Local wildlife author, Rick Thompson, will be signing copies of his new book, 'A Year on the Fosse', and answering questions at Kenilworth Books in Talisman Square on Saturday 12 October between 10.30am and 1.30pm.

'A Year on the Fosse' follows the famous Roman road from Lincoln to Exeter through the heart of England, telling the history of the towns and cities that grew up along its 230-mile length, and observing the wildlife to be found in reserves and the different habitats along its route.

Rick Thompson said: "The Romans constructed the pencil-straight road beside a defensive ditch soon after their invasion in 43AD, to secure their conquest of southern Britain.

"Fossa in Latin means ditch.

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"The road was brilliantly built with a surface of limestone slabs so that troops and supplies could be moved swiftly in all weathers.

"Some of the quarries they excavated were expanded during the following centuries, and in recent times the flooded pits have became nature reserves.

"'A Year on the Fosse' describes the changing wildlife month by month as the seasons unfurl, from the flatlands of Lincolnshire, through the East Midlands Wolds and the rich agricultural lands of Warwickshire and the Cotswolds, to the sumptuous West Country. Great cathedral cities have grown up where the Romans established forts, and the book relates some of the significant moments in England's history that have played out along the strategic route. There are also plenty of surprising stories, myths and folklore."

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'A Year on the Fosse' priced at £12 is the latest book by Rick Thompson about the English Midlands, following 'Park Life' - the wildlife of an urban park, and 'A River Avon Year'.